1990 Dunn Cabernet

Dunn is a legend for long lived Napa Cabernet's. I opened a 1996 Howell Mountain a few months back and it was still as closed and impenetrable as the Dunn legacy would expect it to be. They do not even have tasting notes on their web site for after 1993. This 1990 was a very nice glass of wine. It was bold with very strong blackberry, but also showed the impact of age, with a very nice blended structure of tannin and acid. It was exactly what one hopes for in an older wine, but with the level of fruit, quite hard to imagine as a 1990. I have had 2003 Napa Cabs that tasted older than this bottle.




Dunn Vineyards.

Back in awhile.

leh

1995 Far Niente Cabernet

This was outstanding. Blockbuster. Burst of currant and berry on the nose with a lovely deep garnet color. The flavor was great with sweet tannins resolved beautifully into the strong fruit flavor. This wine will be great now and for at least a couple of more years, but I do not believe it will ever be better. It is rich with a hint of chocolate and great blackberry flavor. Can you tell I liked it?

Far Niente has a long history of excellent wines. It built its reputation on an excellent string of Chardonnays and extended it with the rest of its lineup. It also has a beautiful winery in the heart of Napa Valley, which is a great stopping point.



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leh

1987 Caymus Cabernet

Opened, decanted and tasted right away. It was dark blackberry color, with a burst of fresh raisin (I know sounds odd, but think of the smell of raisin when you open a new bag) and dusty pencil lead. The taste was a very nicely resolved set of flavors. Unlike the Montelena (had it at the same time), it was not dominated by the acid. Everything seemed to have blended nicely together and the flavor included a nice combination of dried fruit, soft berry, and a dry mineral. The finish was not over long, but very nice. All in all, this was a nice glass of wine.

This bottle did raise the old wine/new wine questions. Even with the flavor and taste of this very nice glass of wine, I can’t help but think it would have been even better five years ago. I always have a hard time with this issue. Older equals, subtle, sublime, refined. Newer equals fruit, tannins, flavor power.

A link to Caymus.

The label is the 1994 year, looks alot like the 1987.


Back in awhile.

leh

1987 Chateau Montelena Cabernet

Opened, decanted and tasted right away. It was ruby, muddy, with the expected residual bits from the bottle. It had the dusty slightly porty scent of an older Cabernet. It had flavors of raisin and prune. The wine was slightly bitter/acidic. Usually those tastes have softened by this time in a California cab, twenty years in the bottle. The fruit was mostly gone. All in all not a special experience. I suspect ten years ago this would have been great. (See the notes on the Far Niente 1995 which I had at the same time, a completely different experience.)

Chateau Montelena is an absolutely gorgeous wineery. If you are in Napa Valley and you have not been it is highly recommended.

A link to their winemakers notes for the 1987 year release.

Back in awhile.

leh

Been Offline for Awhile, but ...

... I am always drinking wine. So, I have a backlog of posts to make up. Some will be very great wines. Plus, a couple of Roses that I have tried and enjoyed during our hot weather lately.

Back in awhile.

leh

2003 Ruffino Riserva Ducale Oro

Ruffino Chiantis are always solid. This one was no exception. Excellent structure with the right blend of acid, fruit and finish. I enjoyed this with a rib eye steak and it was great. It is the top end Ruffino Chianti, so you expect it to be good. The great thing about Ruffino is the wine is available, has a range of price options and is consistent in its delivery.

A link to Ruffino.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 F Magnien Criots-Batard-Montrachet 6 of 9

Could not really figure this one out. It was a nice sip of wine, but even blind without the price, it was not what I look for in a Burgundy. It started with the nose. Refreshing blend of fruit, but with a flavor of orange. Not what I am used to at all. The taste was very tight. The finish turned floral in nature and was long and satisfying.

Bottle $235.00, taste $20. At that price, I just can't see the attraction.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Antonin Guyton Corton-Charlemagne 1 of 9

Nose was a fruit blend with what was a very faint nose of port. Others were said to have thought Cognac. But while an odd flavor smell when you read it, on the nose it very much enhanced the wine. The taste was steel, dry gravel, dusty mineral, but in the good way that fine Burgundies deliver in that way, which explains its ranking at number 1 of the flight. This would be good anywhere at any time.

Bottle $119.99, taste $12.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 William Fevre Chablis "Les Preuses 2 of 9

Lovely wine. Great nose, of pear, apple and lemon. Wonderful flavors in the mouth with a deep satisfying finish. Very competitive for favorite of the tasting. A great combination of fruit but well balanced with acid and the result was a very satisfying fully integrated wine.

Bottle $79.99, taste $8.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 William Fevre Chablis "Les Clos" 4 of 9

The nose was very light, a slight wafting of fruit. The initial sip was closed, but it then opened into a very classic style steely, minerally French Chardonnay. Just what you would expect in a well made Chablis.

Bottle $94.99, taste $9.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Bernard Morey Chassagne Motrachet "Vide Bourse" 9 of 9

I think this was me. I heard another couple of guys talking and they liked this. To me the nose was closed and the wine was over dry, almost parching on the tongue. The fruit got lost somewhere, but I can't figure out where. One of those things. I did re-taste again at the end to see if it had changed at all, but could not detect anything. By then my taste buds were getting shot. I am not a professional so I start to lose my taste after 7 or 8 wines. The nose holds nicely, but the mouth just shuts down.

Bottle $69.99, taste 7.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin "En Remilly" 3 of 9

This in many respects was the wine of the tasting for me. The price is 1/3 or less the two wines that finished ahead of it, but it was their equal.

Lovely strong pear-lemon nose, full flavor through the entire sip and classic Burgundy mineral flavors. Rich in flavor, with a bit more oak than the first three, but still bone dry and not at all prevalent oak flavor. Very nice wine. Would be great with a nice white fish.

Bottle $39.99, taste $4.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Oliver Leflaie Saint-Aubin "En Remilly" 7 of 9

Started with a nose of fruit, again predominantly apple. The first taste was flat. Cleared my palate again, and waited awhile to try it. The second sip was much more open. Also the nose had added some floral elements, which were nice. I would be interested in what this wine would do over an hour or two.

Bottle $39.99, taste $4.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Chateau Fuisse - Pouilly Fuisse "Les Brules" 5 of 9

Again a fresh apple nose, sweeter than the Xavier. The wine started slow but ended with a very polished finish of pear flavor and a bit of lemon.

Bottle $49.95, taste $5.


Back in awhile.

leh

2005 Xavier Monnot - Monthelie "Les Duresses" 8 of 9

Nice nose of fresh apple, tasted more of sour apple. Very tight and dry, not very minerally.

Bottle $39.99, taste $4.

Back in awhile.

leh

White Burgundy Tasting Notes -- Next Nine Posts

Went to the Beltramo's White Burgundy Tasting Saturday. These were all well regarded wines and you will see by the price points that they should be good for the price. Beltramo's has a simple set up for tasting. I don't make it all that often, but do make it once in awhile. In my experience the wines are well chosen with a range of price and flavor given the category. For a flight of 8-10 wines, the cost is between $50 and $80, but you can buy individual wines if you do not want to go for the whole flight. Also, since the expensive wines are often $15 to $20 per taste, you can drop the cost of the tasting to $30 by omitting one or two wines.

Format wise, I was not sure whether to put all these wines into a single post or split them up. I am going to start with this approach. They will all be pretty short notes. I will put the order of Finish in each Post Title. Just to be clear, I don't think the random finish in wines in a mixed tasting like this means all the much, but people alwasy want to know, what did you like best? So you will know.

Back in awhile.

leh

2004 Argyle Pinot Noir Nuthouse

This is a silky, black fruit, berry mostly, very long finishing Pinot. Great tasting fruit. It would be great with a lamb, or even a bit of spicy sausage. I have been drinking Oregon Pinot Noirs for awhile now. They are not every day for me as the price points, like this one tend to be over $30. This one was $42 or so at Safeway with the 10% half case discount. The good ones tend to be in the under $50 price point, rather than the under $30 price point that you can find for the California Pinot from Sonoma or Santa Barbara area.

Link to Argyle Winery online. Picture is of the 2005, but 2004 looks the same.

Back in awhile.

leh

2005 Pozzo Bacio Divino Red Blend

So this is a another fruit basket. I was eating some fresh cherries while drinking this (after a tasty stew) and the wine had almost the same powerful fruit as the cherries. It was, however, much better balanced and structured (than the cherries) with nice sweet tannins, and went really well with the stew. It is mostly sangiovese, with a bit of cabernet and a splash of petite sirah and some other stuff. Maybe that is why it had the power punch flavor I tasted. It would be great with a tasty sausage pasta.

Link to the Bacio Divino website

Back in awhile.

leh

Drink Red Wine -- Live Longer

A piece on the health benefit of red wine ran in The New York Times yesterday. It is pretty scholarly, although the volumes they discuss seem to be well beyond the capability of any wine drinkers I know. Entertaining nonetheless.

Back in awhile.

leh

2005 Chante Cigale Chateauneuf du Pape

My nose is playing tricks on me. When I take a whiff of this wine it gives a raspberry jam, but when I taste it the flavor is much heavier. It tastes of earth and dark currant and blackberry, not the lighter flavor of raspberry. I had this wine from 2003 and it was a real find. This one is less outstanding, even as it delivers a very workman Chateauneuf. My standard in this space is the Chateau de Beaucastel. It is of course at the top. This sits nicely in the 80% range. I don't think I will buy any more of this, but it was nice for a try.

A new feature will be trying to provide a link to the producers website, Chante Cigale. Plus a special item tonight, the Wikipedia entry on Chateauneuf du Pape which I think is pretty good even as it is brief, they of course include the dashes, Chante Cigale does not.

Tonight Barack Obama won the Democratic Nomination for President. While it had been a foregone conclusion for some time, tonight was the night when even the Clinton's knew that the race was moving on. I don't know that I will vote for him, but I am still proud that my country has been able to make this transition and applaud him for his effort as well.

Back in awhile.

leh

2005 LaBoure-Roi Bourgogne Blanc

A very light, not too fancy french Chardonnay. It really is an everyday drinking wine for the reasonable price of $13. However, the folks at K&L are selling it with a bit of White Burgundy blood lines, suggesting it is a class or two above where it is selling. All in all, it taste fine and certainly very drinkable, especially for the price and compared to what else is around for that price point. But, and there is a but, if you mixed it in with any of the more refined and well made (better oak, etc.) it really would not stand up to the competition in my view.

A bit of selling going on around this bottle.


Back in awhile.

leh